Section Reference: The Hawthorne studies focused attention on the human side of organizations. The term "Hawthorne Effect" was used to explain some of the important findings of the Hawthorne studies.
In 1927, the Hawthorne engineers asked Harvard professor Elton Mayo and a team of researchers to join them in their investigation. From 1927 to 1932, Mayo and his colleagues conducted experiments on job redesign, length of workday and workweek, length of break times, and incentive plans.
Learning Objective 2: Identify the contributions of the behavioral management approaches. Section Reference: The Hawthorne studies focused attention on the human side of organizations. The term "Hawthorne Effect" was used to explain some of the important findings of the Hawthorne studies.
The results of the Hawthorne studies enhanced our understanding of what motivates individuals in the workplace. They indicate that in addition to the personal economic needs emphasized in the classical era, social needs play an important role in influencing work-related attitudes and behaviors.
The studies began when engineers at the Hawthorne Western Electric plant decided to examine the effects of varying levels of light on worker productivity —an experiment that might have interested Frederick Taylor. The engineers expected brighter light to lead to increased productivity, but the results showed that varying the level ...
What did Elton Mayo’s Hawthorne studies reveal about worker motivation? The classical era of management was followed by the human relations era, which began in the 1930s and focused primarily on how human behavior and relations affect organizational performance.
In 1927, the Hawthorne engineers asked Harvard professor Elton Mayo and a team of researchers to join them in their investigation. From 1927 to 1932, Mayo and his colleagues conducted experiments on job redesign, length of workday and workweek, length of break times, and incentive plans.
Mayo claimed that both experimental and control groups from the plant had developed a sense of group pride because they had been selected to participate in the studies. The pride that came from this special attention motivated the workers to increase their productivity.